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RAF EVACUATES DUTCH INTERNEES FROM BATAVIA [Allocated Title]

Other titles:ROYAL AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]

Summary: RAF transport aircraft evacuate Dutch civilian internees from Batavia, Netherlands East Indies (Jakarta, Indonesia) as part of operations for the Recovery of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees (RAPWI).

Description: Reel 1: Panning view of an airfield, probably at Kemajoran (also known as Batavia). Parked Douglas Dakota transport aircraft and an RAF De Havilland Mosquito FB Mk VI fighter-bomber with airmen standing around. A Mosquito with rocket rails below each wing, RF713 'L', taxis past camera. Another Mosquito FB Mk VI, RF749 'C', taxis towards camera. Wounded soldiers, apparently of the Indian Army, unloaded from a Dakota. The walking wounded are helped down and a number of stretcher cases are put aboard ambulances. Ambulance drives away with fuel bowsers passing. A man with a bandaged shoulder drinks from a mug. A man, his face heavily bandaged, is put aboard an ambulance. A fiercely burning wooden warehouse, apparently torched by Indonesian nationalists. Brief shot of men and women standing in an open-sided hut behind barbed wire. Aerial footage over the sea with a County Class cruiser of the Royal Navy's Eastern Fleet visible. Air-to-air footage; Dakotas pass the camera. Low altitude footage of countryside. Interior Dakota; airmen push parachute supply bundles through the aircraft's open door. A crate can be seen to be marked 'Sourabaja' (Surabaya). View of parachutes inflating with others scattered on the ground. The drop zone features a number of small buildings, tree-lined roads, railway lines and an engine shed or station. Air-to-air of escorting fighter aircraft (RAF Republic Thunderbolt Mk IIs). More parachutes inflating, over the same area as before; the drop zone would appear to be a large open square enclosed by low buildings and is marked with a large white 'X'. After the last bundle is despatched one airman lies prone on the cabin floor to check the accuracy of the drop while another gathers in the parachutes' static lines. Their drills appear slick and well-practised. A Dakota in the distance drops supplies. Air-to-ground of a number of buildings, probably part of a civilian internment camp at Ambarawa. An engine of a Dakota with mountains behind. A Dakota, mostly silver with a dark rear portion, marked 'RAPWI' on the fuselage and 'VHRDJ' on the tail. A Dakota takes off. Civilian women are helped aboard an aircraft. Women and a number of young children board a lorry; an RAF man checks their names against a list. The civilians board a lorry. A sign reads 'RAF Transport Command Staging Post Batavia'. Interior shots; European civilians sitting around with refreshments. In the background 'Bandoeng' (Bandung) and 'Semarang' can be seen on the wall along with 'Passengers report here' in English and Dutch. Two of the men appear to be Dutch officers; on their epaulettes are dark triangles with two and three stars, suggesting a Lieutenant and Captain of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger; KNIL) respectively. A lorry full of airmen drives towards Dakota KN536. Thunderbolt Mk II FL:C (RAF 81 Squadron) taxis past.
Reel 2: Aerial landscape views. Atmospheric night-time footage of a wooden building on fire, apparently set alight by Dutch incendiary ammunition.

Production Details: Air Ministry, Directorate of Public Relations (Production sponsor)
Royal Air Force Film Production Unit (Production company)
Clot, Dennis Francis Emile1919-07-04 (Production individual)

Personalities, Units and Organisations: Royal Air Force, 81 Squadron (regiment/service)
Indian Army (regiment/service)

Keywords: Batavia, Java, Netherlands East Indies (geography)
Ambarawa, Java, Netherlands East Indies (geography)
Prisoners of War, Far East 1939-1945 (theme)
Recovery of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees 1945, Allied Prisoners of War Far East 1939-1945, Internment (event)
Allied Occupation of the Netherlands East Indies, Allied Occupation of South East Asia post-August 1945 (event)

Notes: The Mosquitos seen may belong to either RAF 47 Squadron, RAF 84 Squadron or RAF 110 Squadron, all of which operated detachments of Mosquito FB Mk VIs from Kemajoran in this period.
The cruiser seen in Reel 1 is either HMS Suffolk, HMS Sussex or HMS Cumberland.
The drop zone is identified on the dopesheet as Ambarawa 'about two hours flying time from Batavia' and 15-20 miles south of Semarang on the northern Central Java coast. Up to 15,000 European civilians had been interned in the vicinity and the troops being resupplied are 1st Battalion the Seaforth Highlanders and an Indian unit, both having been deployed to defend civilian internees before their evacuation. In the aftermath of the defeat of the occupying Japanese and the Indonesian proclamation of independence on 17 August 1945 an extremely complex situation developed in which Japanese troops, having previously encouraged Indonesian nationalism as a tool against the Dutch, were obliged to lay down their arms before sufficient Allied troops could arrive to take over the administration. The attempts by the Dutch to restore their pre-war administration with the apparent support of the British sparked violence which would be characterised by sporadic but nonetheless bloody episodes. Violence was not confined to combatants and atrocities were committed. British forces withdrew in November 1946 but the Dutch remained and conducted a full-scale counter-insurgency. After much protracted diplomacy the Dutch conceded sovereignty to a Republic of the United States of Indonesia on 27 December 1949 and President Sukarno declared a unitary Republic of Indonesia on 17 August 1950; the fifth anniversary of his original proclamation of independence.